Overview

"This is a book about the policy process. It discusses the considerations advisers have in mind as they develop and select policy alternatives, the ways each of us might want to think about making decisions, and the lessons we should remember in order to minimize avoidable errors. In writing about his experiences in government, the classroom, and private life, Fein offers insights that apply to people responsible for decisions in many kinds of institutions, at all levels of responsibility. His anecdotes and the situations he describes are drawn from over fifty years of experience in the policy arena. They are not intended to represent either a rounded theory about public administration or a comprehensive treatment of important components of political science. Like most people in the policy arena, Fein came to that work from another discipline-in his case economics. His experience of ""finding his own way"" through action and experience rather than through application of theory might appear quaint. But his successes, failures, and the lessons he learned, illuminate the process and may prove useful, even inspirational. Fein is sensitive to the need to move beyond statistics and to present the real world and the faces of real people behind the data. He believes that an effective adviser should bring knowledge and interests that extend beyond the confines of a single discipline, even one as methodologically powerful as economics. Unless the adviser presents a range of choices that have been developed with contributions from many fields of knowledge, the proposed policies are likely to be far too constrained and, at worst, unworkable. His perspective, articulated in this book, is easily summarized: there is more to life and to our nation's welfare than economics. We live in a society, not in an economy."

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9781412810807

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<p> Learning Lessons by Rashi Fein is an enjoyable memoir from a scholar and policy adviser unlike any other. Fein's influential involvement in health care policy dates back to John F. Kennedy's administration, and his career as a leading health economist paralleled the significant growth in the political influence of health economists following the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. <p> -Health Affairs <p> [A] firsthand account of the health policy process written by Rashi Fein, who has been at the center of the policy making process for 6 decades. In this book he includes numerous stories of his experiences in Washington and advising policy makers from faculty positions at the University of NOrth Carolina and Harvard as well as stints in Washington, DC. Often these stories are compelling reading and truly show how policy process operates. <p> -- Gerald F. Anderson, Journal of the American Medical Association <p> Learning Lessons is a memoir, a collection of tales, and a rousing call for social justice. Rashi Fein tells stories about his half century as a teacher and a public intellectual - and each story reverberates with another truth about America. Fein's tour begins with dreams of liberty in a far away city called Bendery and runs to a memorable lesson learned from Senator Ted Kennedy during the Blizzard of '78. Lyrical, funny, poignant, magical, inspiring, and wise. <p> --James A Morone, author of Hellfire Nation and co author of The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office <p>

<p> Learning Lessons by Rashi Fein is an enjoyable memoir from a scholar and policy adviser unlike any other. Fein's influential involvement in health care policy dates back to John F. Kennedy's administration, and his career as a leading health economist paralleled the significant growth in the political influence of health economists following the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. <p> -Health Affairs

Author Information

Rashi Fein was professor of the economics of medicine emeritus at Harvard Medical School. He was the recipient of the John M. Russell Medal for the Advancement of Knowledge in Medicine and the Martin E. Rehfuss medal for Distinguished Service to Medicine. He was the author of numerous books including Alcohol in America: The Price We Pay, Medical Care, Medical Costs: The Search for a Health Insurance Policy, and The Health Care Mess: How We Got Into it and What it Will Take to Get Out.

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